Forgiveness
by Macituckit
Summary: James Potter does something he regrets, but Lily Evans is unsure if she is willing to forgive him. In the midst of getting over the feelings of betrayal, Lily finds herself forgiving an old friend instead. AU, OOC. Image from Unsplash.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: **

Rain rolled off her umbrella as her father pulled her luggage from the trunk of the family car.

"I know you don't like it, but-" her father said as he gave her a kiss on her forehead. "I love you. Have a wonderful school year and please don't forget to write sometimes."

Lily gave a small smile, "I will, Dad. I love you, too. I'll be home for the holidays this year. Be safe driving home." She waved to him and headed to the doors of the station, water splashing over her shoes.

Just before entering the building she shook her umbrella and closed it. The school year was starting off with crappy weather as a storm at sea had rolled over England. Still, what rolls in like a lion often becomes a lamb, giving hope to a great final year ahead.

She waved to her father a final time before stepping inside the station. Upon coming through the platform, she scanned the room.

"Lily!" She turned to see a teenager bound towards her and embraced her in a tight squeeze which caused her to almost lose her balance.

"Lisa, how was your summer?"

"Oh, it was so great. Bobby and I are for sure an item now. We had so much fun. So, you and James still an item?"

She blushed a little, "Yeah, we are. You and Bobby are official now?"

Lisa continued chatting as they met up with a few of their friends before boarding the train where she met up with James and Sirius. James put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her cheek. The three of them sat in a cabin with Sirius's current girlfriend, April Rudder, a sixth year in their house. James propped his feet up on the seat across from them and laughed while Sirius played with the quill feather. Remus walked by and glanced at her with a half-smile.

"Hey, Lily, you have a good summer?"

"Yes, I did. How was your summer?"

"It was okay. Glad to be back. Heard you are Head Girl this year, congratulations."

"Yes, I am honored they chose me. So nice James is Head Boy with me too."

Peter peeked from behind Remus with a sneer at her. "I had a great summer too. We all did. Went to the shore with James's family."

"Oh, I heard you all did that. It sounded like a lot of fun."

"Oh, it was. We made some new friends. There was-"

"C'mon, Peter, let's go." Remus ribbed his elbow into Peter's side, "We're going to find another cabin. See you all in the Great Hall." He grabbed Peter's wrist and motioned his head to the left,

"Come on." Peter chuckled as they exited the cabin.

"What was that about?" Lily asked.

"Oh, he just got a girl to finally look at him. Not sure she was that interested in him, but the brief attention certainly made his summer," Sirius paused, "well, and this entire year cause we know none of the girls at school will be eyeing him," Sirius and April chortled and James smiled.

Lily smiled too, but she couldn't help but feel there was more to that conversation. Maybe she was just being paranoid. Maybe.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: **

Lily flopped onto her bed with a big sigh of relief, the first week as Head Girl over and done. That evening had been a little rough with a couple first years struggling with homesickness now that the week was complete, and the excitement had settled. She shut her eyes and listened to the wind howl outside the window. It was only moments later a knock at the door startled her from the near silence. Before she could say anything, the door opened.

"Hey, Niamh, how's the celebration going?" Lily asked.

"Good, but," Niamh gave her a forlorn look, "there's something I need to tell you,"

"Okay, sure."

Niamh stepped closer and looked down at her hands, "Listen, um, I didn't want to say anything until I knew it was true. I don't like spreading rumors, ya know?"

Lily sat up in the bed, "Of course."

Niamh sighed, "Sirius was bragging, I mean, you know how he brags, so I thought maybe he was just saying it to seem cool. But Peter, well, he kinda let it slip out," She scrunched her nose and looked at her hands again.

"What slip out?" Lily raised her eyebrows.

"Sirius said they went to a beach this summer. James's parents let the four of them have a caravan to themselves."

"Yeah, they told me about the trip,"

Niamh's eyes got wide, "They told you everything about the trip?"

"Well, I mean, they said they had a caravan at the beach for a couple weeks and hung out,"

"So," she drawed out, "Did Sirius talk about the girls?"

Lily raised her eyebrows higher, "Girls?"

Niamh shrugged a little and frowned deeper, "So, he didn't tell you then."

Lily gave her a side eye.

"Well, they met some girls at the beach, muggles. According to Sirius and Peter, they all did. All four of them meet muggles at the beach. And it seems that they didn't just meet them." Niamh paused, not looking at Lily, "They stayed in the caravan with them. Now, Sirius said nothing about James, just him and Peter and Remus doing things with them. But Peter let it slip that James also had a girl with him. A blonde, blue-eyed muggle who was 16. Now, of course, that's just rumor except," she sighed, "They had pictures. Though Sirius tried to hide it, there's a picture of James, with his arm around a girl." Niamh finally looked up at Lily, "A blonde, blue-eyed girl. Just as Peter said."

Lily stood up, her lips pursed, "What?"

"I'm sorry, Lily. It seemed you didn't know, and I had to tell you."

Lily narrowed her eyes, "Where's the picture?"

"I think Peter has it, I dunno." Lily nearly pushed past Niamh, half-running down the stairs to the common room. A crowd was gathered around the Marauders near the fireplace.

"Ah, but it was before I started to date you, April." Sirius spoke.

Lily slowed walked behind the crowd and half-pushed her way through. As the group saw her, a sudden silence came over them. When Remus saw her, he started to gather some of the pictures hastily. Lily leaned over and snatched them.

James jumped up, "Lily, it's not what you think,"

"Isn't it?" She narrowed her eyes and held up two pictures. One was the exact picture Niamh had told her about.

"It's not what you think."

"What do you call it then? Can you explain her sitting on your lap?"

"We were just-" He paused. Lily glared at him. "It wasn't what you think."

She shrugged during the long pause, "You were just what?"

James sighed, "It was just a group of us, we hung out. Just drinking."

"Just drinking, with a random girl on your lap?"

Peter curled his lip, "Oh, we didn't just drink with them-"

Remus shoved his elbow hard into Peter and caused him to make a wheeze sound. Sirius glared at Peter.

"I could expect this from Sirius-"

"Hey, I didn't cheat." Sirius's eyes widened, "I didn't mean-"

"Oh I know exactly what you meant. I'm not stupid and I'm not going to stand here and be lied

to. I can't believe you'd do that to me, James."

"Lily, I-"

"You can't justify sleeping with some random girl while we are dating, James."

"I'm not, I-" He stood up, "Lily, please. We were drinking a lot. I don't even remember much, honest."

Lily raised her voice, "So now you are pretending you don't remember sleeping with her?"

"No. I mean, kinda, yes. Lily, listen."

"Save it!" She threw her hand up. "There's no excuse you can make to justify it. You slept with a random girl while in a relationship with me. We haven't even slept together."

James blushed, "Lily, c'mon now," he laughed nervously.

Lily just shook her head with a huff before she started to turn away from the crowd. James grabbed her hand and she yanked it away, "Lily, please, don't."

She shook her head again, her frown deeper, "No, James, I can't believe you'd do this." She turned her back to James and started for the dorm.

James followed quickly behind her, "Lily, please. Will you just listen, I-"

She turned around, "Listen to what? You make excuses? I trusted you. I thought you had changed."

"No, I'm not making excuses, I just-. I'm sorry, okay. Nothing really happened, honest."

She scoffed, "If it was so innocent, why did you hide it from me?"

He stepped back and looked at his feet, "I didn't hide it from you, I just-"

She scoffed again, "You just hoped I wouldn't find out." Lily derided and shook her head, her arms folded across her chest. "Well, guess you can thank your buddies for that one. Never ones to stop a good boost, but I should thank them really. Thanks to Peter's photo obsession and Sirius's bragging I can find out the truth."

He started to put his hand on her shoulder, but she shoved it away quickly. As James started to open his mouth, she shook her head and started to turn around once more, "Save it."

"Lily, can we just talk?"

"I think you've said all there is to say right now," Lily turned her back to James a final time, entering the dorms, nearly slamming the door behind her on the way up.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I won't be turning out chapters as frequently, but school was cancelled even for us teachers (snow day) today, which gave me extra time.

**Chapter Three: **

Lily took a swig of the bottle and set it down. Upon sight of James, she turned away and stumbled out of the dorm. He started to go after her, but Lisa stood in front of him with her hands on her hips. She narrowed her eyes with a deep frown. He stepped back.

"Don't worry, James, she'll get over it." Sirius put his arm over James's shoulder, "It's a full moon tomorrow anyway, we have plans."

The air stung Lily's face as she stepped into the courtyard. She stumbled and fell, catching herself with her hands. As she stood up, dusting her robes, she heard laughing. When she glanced up, she saw Avery enter the courtyard. With a deep sigh, she started to walk to the opposite side of the courtyard and watched him from the corner of her eye. Two other boys in her year appeared behind him along with Severus. She glanced down at her feet while she walked, and her vision grew blurry. She nearly tripped over her feet but caught herself before she hit the ground.

"Look, guys. It's the ginger mudblood!" A sandy-haired boy shouted. The others laughed with him except Severus.

She continued walking, the nearby bench becoming two in her vision. Lily lost her footing and fell forward. Her head jarred as her chin slammed against the corner of the stone bench. There was a sharp, piercing pain that radiated up to her head. In the background, she heard the boys laugh. It was like an echo in her ears. She pushed herself away from the bench, but the courtyard seemed to slightly spin in her vision. Lily tried to get up to her feet, but dizziness overwhelmed her. She covered her ringing ears as a wave of nausea hit her. Her head pounded and she closed her eyes hoping to stop the overwhelming dizziness and double vision.

The group was at the front entrance from the courtyard, but Severus stopped. Avery gave him a side-eye, "What's wrong?"

"You all go ahead. I need to go back and get something."

Avery shrugged and the group went on inside without him. He walked over to Lily. Severus figured she didn't want to see him, but she looked like she was hurt.

"Lily?" A familiar voice pierced through her covered ears. She opened her eyes but couldn't move without much nausea. "Lily, are you okay?" Lily wasn't thrilled he was here. She tried to stand up again and managed to stumble to her feet.

Lily took a step forward and her vision grew dark before she collapsed.

Severus caught her before she hid the ground with a light gasp in surprise. "Lily? Lily?" He put his hand to her mouth and felt her breath with a sigh of relief. He gently shook her, "Lily? Wake up! Lily!" She lay limp in his arms. "Dammit!" Her chin was covered in blood and he could see a deep gash in the center. He looked around, but the group was gone and no one else was around them. He carefully lifted her. "You're heavier than you look," he whispered to himself. With a brisk pace, he hurried to the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey was fluffing a pillow when he burst in. She turned with a start.

"She hit her head." She and another nurse ran to him and took Lily from him. "She slipped outside, hit her head on a stone bench. Then passed out."

More nurses rushed in and got Lily on a bed. He just stood there for a moment as they hooked up an IV and used their wands over her. After a couple minutes, they spoke in hushed whispers. He heard the word concussion and realized he was just standing there like a useless lump.

"I don't know when she'll wake up, young lad," one nurse said.

Severus shrugged, "That's okay. I'll come back. I just saw her fall, wanted to get her help."

"Well, thanks. I'm sure she'll appreciate it."

Severus gave a little grin but knew she probably would not really appreciate it considering she was not speaking with him anymore "Well, um-I'll come back just to see how she's doing and all." He stepped back and slowly walked out of the infirmary.

Lily's eyes fluttered open, blurry. She made out a couple figures in front of her as her vision tried to focus.

"She's awake," a voice spoke. "Are you feeling okay?"

As her eyes focused on the room, she realized she was in the infirmary. "What-what happened?" The last thing she remembered was drinking in the common room with her friends.

"You don't remember?"

"I remember being in the dorms and then I left," she recalled angrily leaving the dorms now, "and-and I don't-I don't know after that." She tried to sit up, but her head still ached. "Ooh," she moaned as she laid back down.

"You fell and hurt your head."

She squinted as she rubbed her temple, "I did?"

"You passed out and your friend brought you here."

Lily shook her head, "I don't remember. Which friend?"

The nurse shrugged, "I don't know, some lad with black hair."

Lily put her fingers to her chin and it stung. She hissed and looked at her fingers, "Ah,"

"Don't touch your chin, should heal in a couple days. Gave you some potion for the pain, we stitched it up, can't tell, but it'll hurt if you touch it."

"What happened to it?"

"You fell and hit it. Cut it quite deeply I may say. The scar will probably stay. Caused your concussion."

Lily's eyes got wide, "I had a concussion?"

"Yes, but no damage. No bleeding in the brain. Just need to rest and you'll be okay. " She handed Lily a mug with a straw. "Take some sips. See if you keep it down."

"I don't feel that sick."

"You threw up a couple times while passed out from the concussion."

"I did?" She took a sip of the ginger ale.

"Just drink it slowly. I'll give you some saltines later."

"When can I leave?"

"Maybe later today, we will see."

As Lily took another sip, the door opened. She saw Niamh and Lisa enter.

"Oh my god, you're finally awake. We heard what happened. Are you okay?" Lisa asked almost in one breath as they rushed to her side.

"Yeah. I mean, my head still hurts a bit, but I feel okay."

"They said you fell and hit your head really hard. We were worried about you. You woke up, but they had a hard time keeping you awake."

"I don't remember much honestly. Everything is really fuzzy after I left the dorms. Was it you all who brought me here?"

Niamh and Lisa looked at each other and Lisa spoke, "No."

"The nurse said they had black hair. Was it Potter?"

Niamh shook her head, "Couldn't have been. I saw him go back to the boys dorm after you left."

"Excuse me, who did you say brought me here?" Lily asked.

"I don't remember his name, dear."

"What did they look like?"

She sighed, "Um, tall, black hair, probably about your alls ages."

"Was it Sirius?"

"No," Madam Pomfrey responded. "It was Severus Snape who brought you here."

Lily shook her head and blinked half choking on her sip of ginger ale, "Severus?"

"The Snape kid?" Lisa scrunched up her nose, "Really? Why? After last year, I'm surprised he bothered to do anything to help someone he considered dirty."

Lily said nothing, just blinked. The nurses took their equipment away soon after.

"Why?" she eventually blurted once the nurses left. "Why would he help me?"

"I don't know. I mean I don't think he hates you considering he kept trying to apologize to you." Niamh said.

"No, he doesn't hate me. I'm just-surprised, considering everything."

Lisa scoffed, "Well, he did his nice deed then. Still doesn't take anything he's done back."

Lily sighed.

"Lily, forget him. He can't take it back."

"No, but I still need to thank him."

"No, you don't. After what he said and what his friends do-"

"It's the right thing to do and you know it." Lily interjected.

"Lily's right, Lisa. She should thank him. Who knows what could have happened if he hadn't brought her here. She doesn't have to forget or even forgive him. But she still needs to thank him."

"I wouldn't. He made up for it by helping, the end. You don't need to be friends with him again."

"Who said we would be friends again? He's chosen his path. I've chosen mine. Doesn't mean I can't thank him for his help. I'm going to thank him once I leave the infirmary. I would be rude if I didn't. It's the least I can do." Lily glared at Lisa, daring her to challenge her again.

Lisa just sighed, "Fine, but I still think it's a bad idea."


End file.
